5 Key Reasons to Choose a Planar Filter Over Conventional Filter Technology in Your Next RF Design

Understanding RF Filter technology to get the most effective solution.

When looking at key market trends for RF & Microwave components such as; higher frequency, smaller size, lighter weight, higher power and reduced cost. It becomes apparent that traditional filtering techniques (ceramic resonator or lumped element styles) especially board level, surface mountable, will struggle to keep up with future technological demands.

This is where monolithic planar filter chip technology will become a necessity. This is especially important in the SATCOM, Radar and Broadcasting industries where they are pushing the RF design to be more compact, agile and reliable.

The following are five key reasons planar filter chip technology is surpassing traditional filtering techniques:

1. High Frequency
Due to material advances providing a wide array of substrate options, filter design engineers have multiple dielectric constants and loss tangent options available to provide RF performance that traditional filter packages simply cannot compete with.

2. Low Insertion Loss
The mechanical structure provides insertion loss and high rejection that traditional surface mount technologies simply cannot offer. Similar performance is only realized through much larger cavity configurations.  

3. Small Size
The mechanical footprint is significantly reduced when compared to traditional ceramic resonator or lumped element style filters. This ultimately allows designers to save premium real estate on their PCB designs.

4. High Reliability
The monolithic construction, with proven thick and thin film process technology is well suited for harsh environment applications such as space, defense and medical. Whether it be mechanical shock, vibration or moisture sensitivity, these products are far more superior than their traditional counterparts.

5. Cost Effective
The products feature a very low degree of mechanical complexity and do not require any tuning allowing for a solution suited for high volume applications. These products will play a crucial role in 5G networks and LEO satellite constellations.

In summary, RF & Microwave components are experiencing new trends and technology focusing on sophisticated, reliable, compact and cost-effective component solutions.

Decades of experience have positioned Smiths Interconnect well – both in designing and delivering state of the art RF and Microwave component solutions specifically engineered and designed to support the trends and technology of the future.